After High School
by Little Rain-chan
Summary: What happened after high school? Len had stolen Kahoko's heart so how does she feel when he and the other concur participants suddenly show up again to pay her a visit?
1. OneShot Version

Konnichiwa!! This is my first fan fiction! If you ask, yes I am Asian, note the name. Please enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own La Corda D'Oro!

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Soft music from a violin poured through the doors as people walked by the door. The violinist, Kahoko Hino. During her high school years, she competed in a musical competition. She began playing a magical violin given by a fairy named Lili. Now, she was an accomplished musician studying at the Kyoto Institute of Music.

"Hm.... I wonder where all the others are right now," Kahoko thought to herself. By the others, Kahoko meant: Len Tsukimori, Kazuki Hihara, Azuma Yunoki, Shoko Fuyumi, Keiichi Shimizu and Ryotaro Tsuchiura. They were all the other students that had participated in the music competition with her. Len played violin, Kazuki the trumpet, Azuma played the flute, Shoko the clarinet, Keiichi played the cello and Ryotaro played the paino. They all did exceptionally well in the competion, especially Azuma who got first place. She knew that Len had gone to Europe to study music in more depth and Keiichi, who loved the cello had traveled to someplace (which Kahoko did not know) to join some orhcestra (which Kahoko did not know the name of. But for the others she had no idea what so ever. Kahoko's daydream was shattered by the knocking of the door.

"Y-Yes?" Kahoko stuttered.

"There's a phone call for you Miss Hino," Megumi, a student at the school said as she opened the door.

"Oh, okay thank you," Kahoko said as she took the phone from her hand. With that Megumi left the room.

"Yes? Who is it?" Kahoko asked into the speaker.

"Hello, how are you doing Kahoko?" a vocie asked. Instantly she knew that it was Len.

"Hm? Len is that you?" she asked just to be sure.

"Yes," the voice answered. Kahoko was more than delighted to hear from someone. Every since she enrolled in the school, she had never spoken to her friends from high school. Keiichi and Ryotaro would call once in a while (from someplace that Kahoko did not know).

"Where are you?" she asked wondering.

"Hm? Oh I'm at the airport with Keiichi, Kazuki, Azuma and Shoko," he replied.

"Wait which airport, the one here or threre?"

"Here," he replied.

"Hm!! What are you guys doing here?" Kahoko said her vocie full of shock.

"We're here to visit you duh," said another voice, shich Kahoko presumed to be Kazuki's.

"Oh, okay then do you want me to come over?" she asked

"No it's fine, just give us the address of the institute and well be over soon," Len said regaining control over the phone. Kahoko described where to find the institute and gave them the address.

"Hm.. this is a first. They've never comr to visit before, oh well," Kahoko thought. She walked to the front of the insitute waiting for her friends to arrive. She saw a car stop infront of the institue and instantly she saw Shoko and the others exit. She waved to them and they walked over. She noticed that Keiichi was half sleeping and half draging himself.

"Great, he must of stayed up all night praticing or studying music theory," Kahoko thought since she knew that it was his habit to do that. Shoko reached her first and chimed.

"Konnichiwa, Kahoko -sepai" her usual greeting to Kahoko.

"Hello," Kahoko said and smiled.

The next vocie she heard was from Kazuki saying, "Kaho-chan!" which is a nickname for her that he had made up while they were still in high school. She replied and they all chatted a bit, until Kahoko realized that someone was missing.

"Wait, where's Ryotaro?"

"Oh, we couldn't get a hold of him," Azuma explained. Azuma, as Kahoko remembered, had a dark side to him, but now he was kind and pleasant towards Kahoko.

"Here let me show you around, though there's not much to see,"

"Fine with me," Keiichi said finally rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Kahoko took them all aroudn the school campus and they were even able to see the courtyard. The courtyard was made by the students of the institute, so that all the students would be able to find a place where they could relax.

"Wow," Kazuki said as they entered. "I've never seen anyting this magnificent, it's really something."

"Hm.. Do you think we could go out for a bit and look around Kyoto?" Kazuki asked, eyes wandering everywhere.

"Sure, but I have to practice, so I hope you can get around without me,"she answered.

"It's find, I've been here before," Shoko said smiling as though remembering some memories.

"Okay then, I'll be going now," she said waving to them. She began to walk back to the institue, when she heard a voice say.

"Len? aren't ou coming with us?"

"No thank you, I' brought my violin with me and I think I should practice, for my next performance. You guys can go on without me," Len replied. The others just shrugged and walked on chatting. Kahoko waited until Len caught up with her.

"Okay, so I'll show you where the practice rooms are in that case," Kahoko said smiling. They walked down several hall, and stopped by Kahoko's room for a moment.

"Sorry, I'll need to grab some music that I left, you can go on without me," she explained.

"It's fine, I'll come with you," Kahoko nodded and opened the door to her room. Inside there was a short stack of sheet music. On the other side of the room was a single picture frame. Len walekd over to it and picked it up.

Kahoko turned around, "What's this?" Len asked.

"Hm..?" she said looking at what he was holding, "Oh that, it was a picture that I got after the final selection in the conpetition." What Len was holding was a picture frame that held a picture of the seven of them all smiling. Len smiled, after all those years away from Japan, Kahoko had still remembered him.

"Okay I'm done. ready to go?" she asked.

"Yes," he said still smiling. they walked out o her room and down more hall until they finally reached row of rooms.

"Hm.. why was he smiling," Kahoko thought as she opened the door to one of the rooms. The two of them practiced in their seperate room for what seemed like an eternity. Until knock s on the door broke their concentration.

Kahoko opened her door, "Who is it?" She saw Shoko outside along with everyone else.

"Are you guys done yet?" Kazuki asked. "You've been playing for three hours already," he said in annoyance.

"Really, whoops." Kahoko said turnign slightly pink. "Don't worry I'll just pack up my violin first and then we can go somehwere else."

"Okay let's go to eat then," Kazuki said. Kahoko went back and packed away her violin. She came out and saw that Len was waiting there along with everyone else already.

"So where do you want to go?" she said smiling.

"Anywhere's fine," Azuma replied, being polite.

"Okay then let's take a walk down there and see what there is," Kahoko suggested. Everyone else agreed. They had a nice dinner, and then they decided to wander around the streets more.

"Sorry, I have to go back now. See you guys again," Kahoko said.

"Wait!" Shoko shouted. She handed Kahoko a piece of paper with their names and lists of numbers. Kohoko just put up a confused look.

"We're only here for one night, so here's out phone numebrs, so you can always call us." she said smiling as Kahoko took the sheet of paper. Kahoko thanked them and then began walking back to the insitute.

When she got home, she sighed.

"Well great it was fun while it lasted, I guess I won't be seeing them in a long, long time,"she thought. Kahoko had a habit of walking up to the roof of the institute when she was lonely or sad, which is what she did. Kahoko had brought her violin with her, so when she reached the roof, the first thing she did was take out her violin.

She closed her eyes and began to play Ave Maria, by Franz Schubert. She had played this at the Seiya Music Competition and still remembered it.

Len was walking around the school's campus trying to find Kahoko to say goodbye. out of the blue, he heard soft music drifting from a high place, and reconigized the piece of be Ave Maria. He wondered where it was coming from so he bagan searching. He finally wounded up on the roof, and saw Kahoko. He was careful not to make a loud sound to distrurb her and jsut stood there listeing to her play. When Kahoko was done, she sighed and turned around to put her violin away and saw Len.

"Len!?!" she said in surprise. Len himself was caught by surprise and stumbled backwards. Kahoko laughed silently.

"Well? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I heard you playing so..." he stumbled for he could not find words to continue it. Kahoko smiled and sat down.

"Aren't the star pretty tonight?' she asked changing the subject. Len nodded in agreement. He walked over to join her and for several moments they just sat in silence. Len saw Kahoko slightly dozing off, and tried to wake her up before she would tumble over and off the roof.

"hm..." Kahoko said rubbing her eyes, Len checked his watch and saw that it was nearly 11:30 pm.

"Kahoko, let's go it's really late," Kahoko nodded and began walked alongside Len. They walked back to her room, and Kahoko laid down on her bed, falling instantly to sleep, but she muttered one sentance before that.

"Goodbye Len, visit again. Please," with that Kahoko fell into a deep sleep. Len just watched her for sometime, and decided that he would leave her a gift. He walked back to one of the practice room and took out his violin and tape recorder, which he kept in his violin case. He pressed start on the tape recorder and began playing Ave Maira. When he finished he smiled, he checked his watc again and saw that it was 12: 10 am. He didn't want to disturb Kahoko during her sleep so he decided to wait until morning and leave the tape in her room.

Morning came and Len dropped off the tape in Kahoko's room with a note that read: Dear Kahoko,

Thank for the pleasnt visit. I'll visit again during the spring.

Your friend,

Len Tsukimori

With that Len boarded the plane and left. When Kahoko woke up the first thing she saw was the tape. She read the note and felt grateful. She realized that there'd be no way to catch him now. So she decided to wait until the spring for his visit. Little did she know, but Len was the only one who she could truly open her heart to.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. La Corda D'oro concept belongs to Koei and manga belongs to Yuri Kure. **

"_Never shall I forget the times I spent with you; continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours."_

_- Ludwig van Beethoven_

Soft music from a violin poured through the walls as people walked by the door. The violinist, Kahoko Hino. During her high school years, she competed in a musical competition. She began playing a magical violin given by a fairy named Lili. Now, she was an accomplished musician studying at the Tokyo College of Music, originally founded as the Toyo Conservatory of Music in 1908. It was summertime and yet she was still stuck at school. If only her teacher hadn't asked her to be part of the showcase concert, then she could've been home lounging around. But no, she had another month or so after the year ended here at the college, since the concert wouldn't be until early July for the Tanabata Festival.

"Hm... I wonder where all the others are right now," Kahoko thought to herself. By the others, she meant her former concur participants: Len Tsukimori, Kazuki Hihara, Azuma Yunoki, Shoko Fuyumi, Keiichi Shimizu and Ryotaro Tsuchiura. They all did exceptionally well in the competition, especially Azuma who took home first place. She stared at the empty music stand trying to concentrate, but she couldn't seem to remember the next measure of the piece. Sighing in defeat, she rested her violin atop the piano and sat down at the bench to indulge in reminiscence of her high school days.

It's been a while since she last saw them, since they last got together. Each one of them had gone down their own path to chase their dream. Len had left to study abroad in Europe, the Royal Academy of Music in London to be exact. They shared a couple of conversations over the phones during their freshmen year at college, but the frequency of the said phone calls had depleted over the months. These days she hasn't even heard a word from him. Although Keichi went to study at the New England Conservatory where she knew the blond-haired daydreamer was he was playing his cello to his heart's content and most likely sleeping in. Kahoko's reminiscence was shattered by the knocking of the door.

"Y-Yes?" Kahoko stuttered, trying to calm her racing heart. She never did react well to surprises, it's no wonder that she nearly jumped out of her skin earlier.

"There's a phone call for you Miss Hino," Megumi, a fellow classmate said as she opened the door.

"Oh, okay thank you," Kahoko said as she took the phone from her hand. Once handing off the phone, Megumi silently left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Hello? Kahoko speaking," Kahoko asked into the receiver.

"Hello, how are you Hino?" a deep voice asked. She could recognize that voice anywhere. The voice had mocked her, scolded her, and comforted her through her high school years; she'd never forget its owner.

"Len?" she asked just to be sure.

"Yes," the voice answered. Kahoko was more than delighted to hear from someone. Ever since the end of their high school years, the once-close friends had drifted apart. Keiichi and Ryotaro called once in a while, but to hear from Len was truly a surprise. The last time she had seen him was... she couldn't even remember. It had been so many years since he took of for Europe ready to embark on the next chapter of his life.

Back in school he was the handsome ice prince of the Music Department. She couldn't help but wonder if he'd changed over the years. Kahoko's mind began wandering away from the phone conversation; a cough from Len brought her back to reality.

"Oh sorry, spaced out for a minute. Where are you?" she asked.

"Airport," there was a short pause, "with Keiichi, Kazuki, Azuma and Shoko," he finished.

"Which airport, the one here or there?"

"Here," he replied.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kahoko said shocked. They were coming to town and she wasn't told? An odd scuffling sound was transmitted through the phone and Kahoko looked at the deceive curiously before replacing it in the crook of her neck. "Hello?"

"We're here to visit you duh. We heard from your mom that you were still stuck at school so we came to visit you!" Said another voice, this time it was Kazuki who spoke.

"Kazuki?"

"The one and only! How've you been Kaho-chan?"

She laughed, Kazuki was the only one who called her 'Kaho-chan'. Ever since he made up the nickname back in high school it stuck with her. "Managing, studies are starting to pile up and I need to practice more."

"You're so busy that you can't take time off to spend with us?"

"Of course I can, silly. Do you want me to come over and pick you guys up?"

"Nah, Azuma's got a chauffer here," Kazuki replied. Kahoko couldn't help but sweatdrop, of course Yunoki would have his own personal chauffer to pick him up.

"Why did I even bother to ask," Kahoko thought, berating herself.

"Hino, are you still on the phone or have you passed out from the shock of it all?" A cunning voice spoke. That was definitely Azuma Yunoki, he the only one who'd use sarcasm in a situation like this.

"Well hello to you too Yunoki," she sighed.

"Oh yeah hello. Anyways you're being slow, just give us the address to your house or the conservatory or whatever. My chauffer can't wait here all day," Yunoki demanded.

Releasing another pent up sigh she recited the college's address. "You got that?"

"Of course I do, I'm not as slow-witted as you are." Kahoko bit back a remark, "Just kidding, we're all anxious to see you. Even me, it's been a while hasn't it?" There was a pause, Yunoki was anxious to see her? This was a first. "We'll be there in ten, you'd better be waiting outside for us," then he hung up.

Kahoko heard the dial tone echo within the recess of the phone and she couldn't help but gape at the cellular device. The nerve of him! He didn't even say goodbye or any other formality. He just hung up. Even after all these years, Yunoki was the same dark, cynical flutist with a face of an angel's.

Quickly packing up her violin and depositing it to its slot she stormed out of the music building; returning the classroom phone on the way out. She stood at the entrance of Tokyo Conservatory, wondering what kind of car they would be arriving in. Several minutes passed and finally she spotted a white limousine pull into the parking lot. That was them, no doubt about it, after all it was Yunoki who provided the transportation.

The vehicle stopped at the curb right outside the entrance and then four door flung open. The next thing she knew, a head of light green hair was quickly advancing towards her and then she was thrown into the air.

"Kaho-chan!" an energetic voice chimed. As she descended a pair of strong arms quickly caught her and she was reintroduced to the smiling face of Kazuki Hihara.

"Kazuki," she gasped, "you almost gave me a heart attack." The only response she got was a smile so brought it could challenge the rays of the sun. When Kazuki let her back down, she turned to face the others. Scanning over the faces she saw Len's distinct blue hair, Yunoki's usual purple, the dazed look of Keichi and Shoko's ever pleasant smile. The confrontation alone with her ex-concurs participants was enough to move Kahoko to tears. It had been so long since she last saw a familiar face.

"Kahoko?" Shoko's timid voice spoke out. "Are you okay? You're crying,"

Kahoko smiled and threw herself at Shoko, hugging her with enough strength to force the air out of the poor girl's lungs. "No, I'm just so happy. It's been so long since I've seen any of you." Pulling back from the girl she asked, "How've you been?"

And of course Yunoki just had to ruin the picture perfect moment with a snide remark, "Hino, I don't think it's proper to molest a friend the first moment you see her,"

Kahoko turned around and shot him a death glare, "I was hugging her, no thanks to your non- existent observatory skills," she retorted. Yunoki just smiled and laughed, "I'm just teasing, it's been a while hasn't it?"

Yunoki had changed; he was more open with his true self and used his false smile and psuedo-pleasant attitude less and less. Kahoko was personally pleased with this change; it was difficult back in her high school years to deal with two sides of this person. She never knew what the right way to act around him was.

Although the real Yunoki wasn't as kind as the fake one, it was better to get to know the real musician that hid behind the mask of smiles after years of being forced to be the perfect son to his family. Slowly, but surely, he was becoming a more genuinely kind person. It must've been hard having two older brothers, especially when you're expected to fill their shoes.

So it's marginally understandable that what happened to the talented flutist was normal. He had been withered away so much that eventually he wasn't living his own life, instead it was one laid out by his parents. In order to keep his parents happy he invented the smiling Yunoki to please them; however, the pressure would grow to such extremes that he had to let the real Yunoki out once in a while and Kahoko was the unfortunate victim of his outbursts. Luckily she was more understanding than most of the concur participants and could understand his predicament.

"Are you going to stand there staring into space for another hour catching flies?"

Kahoko snapped out of her reverie, this time it was Len who had spoke. Len the same blue-haired violinist that had stolen her heart after high school.

"Well, good to see you too." She smirked. She scanned through the faces of her friends again and realized that someone was missing. "Where's Ryotaro?"

"We couldn't get a hold of him," Azuma explained. "apparently he's off playing a series of concerts in Taiwan this week."

"Oh, anyways let me show you around, though there's not much to see,"

"Fine with me," Keiichi said rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Kahoko took them our a tour of the school. First they visited the classrooms where students were lectured on theory and composition. Then she led them to the music building that held over a hundred practice rooms to accommodate the majority of their students. Keichi insisted on taking a look at the conservatory's library, and so they did. The blond haired cellist was surprised by the sheer number of musical books the library contained. Keichi himself was studying at the New England Conservatory, which held it's own impressive music collection. However, the diligent student he was never seemed to be uninterested when it came to music.

When they reached the Makino Performing Hall, even Len was impressed by the grandeur of it. The performing center had taken three and a half years to build and raising funds alone took nearly five years. All of the conservatory's students performed in the hall at least once in their academic career, Kahoko herself had already performed there four times since the beginning of her schooling. The first was the Freshmen String Student Recital, second was in her sophomore year, third was as a member of one of the school's showcase quartets for the school's annual music festival. The last performance Kahoko had given was as a solo violinist in a aspiring musician series. To be honest, she was quite overwhelmed when her instructor Mr. Inoue asked her to be part of the concert. She still viewed herself as a newbie on training wheels.

Finally their tour ended at the courtyard. The courtyard consisted of a fountain at its center, and it was circumscribed with various plants. Many of the conservatory's student sought out the courtyard when they needed a sanctuary to relax and escape from reality; some also choose it as a quite place to practice.

"Wow," Kazuki said as they entered. "This is amazing."

"Well that's the school; do you guys have any plans for the rest of the day?"

"We wanted to look around Tokyo a bit, wanna come?" Kazuki asked.

"I'd really like to, but I can't. The school has another showcase series for the Tanabata Festival coming up and I'm one of the participants for the string section, so I really need to practice."

"I'm sure you do Hino, after all I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up falling asleep on your violin," Yunoki teased.

"Thanks for the encouragement," she sarcastically shot back.

Kazuki ignored the argument and pressed on, "When's the performance! I wanna see!"

Kahoko smiled at his eagerness, "It's on July 7th in Hiratsuka. It's a little traveling distance from Tokyo so all performers are taking buses to get there."

"Bus? Don't they give you any decent transportation?" Yunoki interjected.

"Unless you haven't noticed, we're just college students I don't think everyone can afford a limo to take us." Kahoko pointed out, Yunoki laughed. Kahoko checked her watch, "Shoot, it's getting late I need to go back. Do you guys want to meet up for dinner?"

The five of them nodded their heads in agreement. "Okay, I'll see you in a bit them, call me when you guys have finished and we'll work out dinner plans from there." Then she turned around to walk back to the music building.

"Hino!" A voice called after her. She pivoted around to see Len walking towards her. "I'll go with you. I wanted to look at the music building a bit more, see how it compares to the ones at the one at the Royal Academy of Music."

"Ha, I there's no comparison. The ones in England have to be better; it after all Europe was the center of music back in the day." She reasoned.

As the two violinists walked away, little did they know, their friends were giggling behind them. "Aww, look how cute they are," Kazuki gushed. After high school he had gotten over his crush, but she still held a special place in his heart. Keichi seemed to have just realized that they were missing two friends.

"Where did Hino and Tsukimori go?" Keichi asked.

Shoko pointed to the two who were slowly disappearing from view, "They wanted to go to the music building. Kahoko had to practice and Len tagged along."

"Oh. Wait, I want to go to the music building too." He mumbled, he tried to take a step forward, but a hand had caught the collar of his shirt and hindered his movement. "Wha?"

"Sorry kid, we should leave them alone. They haven't seen each other for a year." Kazumi reprimanded.

"But, I wanted to go see the music building." Despite all the years that have passed, it seems like Keichi has never grown up from the dazed freshmen he was back at Seiso.

Yunoki laughed, "Why don't we go downtown, maybe there'll be a nice bookstore with music books."

Keichi blinked, he seemed to like the idea. He took a step back, returning to his two feet and Kazuki released his grip on the boy's collar. "Okay," with that he spun around 180 degrees and began walking towards the exit of the school.

"Man, I don't get that kid sometimes," Kazuki muttered, the other two smiled in agreement.

The two violinists made their way to the music room. Then realization struck.

"Crap, I left my sheet music in my dorm room. Go ahead without me, the practice rooms are on your right. If you want to borrow a violin to practice then take a left then a right you'll see row of instrument in cubbies. Most of the slots have names above them so just find a violin that has either a blank label or the word 'Rental' typed on it and you can use that."

Len looked skeptic, Kahoko decided to quell his worries, "The school violins aren't that bad. According to my teacher they're about 4,000 to 5,000 dollars each so they should be of decent quality."

Len thought about it for a moment before replying, "On second thought, I'll go with you to your room. You never did show us the dorms."

"Erm," Kahoko was feeling uneasy to let Len see her room. She made conjured a mental image of her room and tried to think if she might've left anything incriminating lying around. After several moments of pondering, she sighed and decided that letting Len see her room wouldn't be hazardous to either of them.

"This way then," they took a 270 degree turn from the music building and headed in the direction of the dorms which took shape of six rectangular buildings about fifteen stories high each. They reached one building which had a plaque that read 'Nocturne Dorm'. She pulled her card key out and swiped it, the door beeped and allowed their entrance into the dorms.

She noticed his gaze lingered on the plaque and explained, "They name the dorms by types of musical pieces. This one's Nocturne, the one next to ours is Sonata, then there's Minuet, Novelette, Rondo and Concerto."

Len laughed, Kahoko looked at him perturbed, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just that the naming's... how should I put it, well different. Back at Royal we don't have anything like that; we call it dorm A, B, C, D and so on. I like it this way better, it's more musical." He smiled; Kahoko couldn't help but smile along with him.

They took the elevator up to the sixth floor and walked until they stopped outside of room 627. She swiped her key card again and a light flashed green and Kahoko pushed the door open.

"Well, this is home sweet home," she chimed as she flipped a light switch giving Len a clear view of her room.

Len took a look around; it seemed like any normal dorm room. Two beds, a bathroom, small fully equipped kitchen, two desks, two closets a collection of music stands, a rack full of music and a television. Her room was slightly smaller than his over at Royal, but nonetheless it was fairly capacious.

Kahoko moved to the rack of music and started rifling through the pages, looking for her piece. Earlier she had been playing from memory, but to work on one specific part of the movement required her sheet music. "Where the heck did I put it?" She exclaimed exasperated. Len moved to help her, and the spotted ledger paper sitting on her desk. He walked over to the desk and found the violin part for Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto Mvt.2. He also noticed a picture resting in a golden frame, it sparked his curiosity and picked it up as well.

Len recognized it in an instant; it was the last picture they took at the competition. All seven participants with smiles, both small and large. He silently smiled, enjoying the fact that Kahoko still held high school memories dear in her heart, and those had been some of the most uplifting years for him. His music had changed, his personality, but most importantly his heart had been stolen by the little red haired thief that stood a few yards from him.

He gently replaced the frame and turned to face Kahoko. He soon regretted it however, in the matter of a few minutes since they stepped into the room; she had created a tornado that left sheet music sprawled everywhere on a bed in its wake. How forgetful could she be?

"Hey Kahoko, what're you playing for the showcase?"

"Mendelssohn's concerto movement two," she replied, her voice slightly muffled by the sound of shuffling papers.

He walked up behind her and dropped the music in front of her face. "Does this look right?" He saw Kahoko's mouth drop wide open; in a tornado of red hair, he found the violinist bounding into his arms. Offset by the sudden addition of weight, he dropped the music and tried to readjust his balance so the two of them wouldn't go barreling into the kitchen.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and muttered her thanks over and over again. Len couldn't help but smile, regaling at the feeling of having her in his arms again. It had been so long since she last hugged him, and that was in the middle of their third-year. The last time they had seen each other was at her graduation. He was afraid to ask if she had forgotten all about him and moved on, maybe even getting another boyfriend.

Eventually she let go and moved to grab her music, "You're a life saver Len. Let's go I need to practice, maybe you can help me and it'll be just like old times." They strode out of her room and embarked on the half mile trek to the music building.

"So who's your roommate?" Len asked, merely for conversation's sake.

"Her name's Kiyomi Fujita, she's in my year a clarinet major." Len opened his mouth to ask another question, but Kahoko quickly cut him off. "Nuh uh, my turn to ask questions." Len smiled at her childish antics and replied, "Okay, shoot."

"I'll start simple, who's your roommate at Royal?"

"Brian Thomas, violin major,"

"Any rivalry?"

Len smirked, "Nope, he's good but not good enough to beat me. We're cordial to each other most of the time, unless we're both working on audition pieces; then it gets a little ugly." Kahoko laughed, leave it to Len get competitive with his roommate. She recalled how back in Seiso Len was subjected to a lot of jealousy from fellow music students, especially since he was chosen over them to compete. Of course, his arrogant attitude didn't help either.

"Same old arrogant Len," Kahoko teased, she quickly added, "I'm just kidding. You're much better than you were back in school."

"Glad someone thinks," Len smiled, "although most of my classmates back at Royal think of me as they put it an 'insufferable git',"

"Git?" Kahoko asked.

"It's like British slang for a jerk. Is that all you got?"

"No! Number two: has anyone caught your eye?" Kahoko regretted the minute she asked, she and Len had an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't date anyone else after high school until they met up again. But she didn't know how long he would remember that promise, even though she did. Her eyes scanned the scenery, landing anywhere other than facing him again.

"Nope, just you," she heard Len's voice fan over her ear. Kahoko's complexion matched the color of her hair and she took over, sprinting towards the music building.

Len watched her gradually shrink in size as she got farther away from him. He mused to himself, "How is it every time I almost have you, you manage to escape my grasp." After another few moments, he took off in the same direction intent on chasing her down.

**Author's Note**

Yay Chapter 1 of revision is done!

Hello readers (old and new) I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of "After High School". I started this fanfic when I was much younger so my writing style probably felt childish. So I decided to pick this story up again and instead of the one-shot I had originally planned it to be, I'll be making it a multi-chapter fic. I'm looking forward to finishing a good portion of the writing this summer before school comes crashing down on me.

Sometimes it may help to check my profile time to time to see if I've left any updates in the "Just for Your Info" section.

Sayonara for now,

AI

P.S: Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, comments etc. Also, reviews are greatly appreciated :D


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